Giles County Charter Petition submitted to election commission

The signed charter petitions were submitted to the Giles County Election Commission on Thursday Jan. 31.

This is HUGE and I believe it is the first time in the State's history that the people of a Tennessee County have petitioned to have their county converted to Home Rule. There are only three home rule counties in Tennessee, Davidson, Knox, and Shelby. These counties were all converted to Home Rule by a vote of the county legislative body, i.e. the process was not initiated via petition as has been done in Giles County.

The next step is for the Election Commission to verify the signatures and then the County Commission will set an election for the charter commission members.

Home rule allows the voters of a county to have much more control over their county governance. They may incorporate such items as term limits for county commissioners in their charter and lots of other items.

Congrats to all who worked so hard to gather signatures for Giles County Home Rule.